Fernando Henrique Cardoso | President of Brazil, 1995-2003

I support the Vienna Declaration because drug prohibition has failed, and in its failure it has caused major social and health-related harms.

In Latin America, despite billions spent on targeting drug cartels and farmers that grow illicit coca crops, the only outcome has been to shift areas of cultivation and drug cartels from one country to another, with no reduction in the magnitude of the drug trade. In the meantime, the violence and corruption caused by these policies continue to harm the region and its most vulnerable people.

Instead of supporting failed policies with serious consequences, we must direct our efforts towards meaningfully reducing the levels of drug consumption and the many harms caused by drugs to people and society. Fortunately, treating drug use as a health, rather than a law enforcement issue, can help address these problems.

Current drug policies are repressive and firmly rooted in prejudices, fears and ideology. The way forward is clear: to safeguard human rights, security and health, please join me in signing the Vienna Declaration.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso is the former President of Brazil. He is currently the co-President of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy. He is a professor of sociology at the University of São Paulo, and has served as president of the Club of Madrid, of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations-Civil Society Relations and of the UN Panel for Revitalization of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.